Trinidad (FEB 09)

We arrive in Port of Spain, Trinidad, at about 7:30 this morning.  The harbor area was typical with insufficient activity to make it interesting.

Disembarking, we boarded a mini-van for a 90+ minute to the Asa Wright Nature Center located in the mountains on the north side of the island at 1,200 feet above sea level.

[An aside about the mountains:  While Tobago thirty miles to the north experiences hurricanes, Trinidad does not.  The reason is the mountains at the north end of the island.  They deflect the winds, pushing hurricanes offshore.]

After turning off the main road at Arima, we started to climb on what became a steadily more winding, narrower road.  When we would pull over to allow traffic going the other direction to pass us, Pam was on the side of the vehicle that had the best view of the precipitous drop.  It was exciting to come around hairpin turns to find a dump truck coming the other way moving rather fast.  Our guide explained that they were making deliveries from various quarries in the mountains.  Paid by the trip, it created a delicate balance between being quick and being safe.  On our part, there was no doubt who would lose a mini-van versus loaded dump truck encounter.

Breathing a collective sigh of relief as we existed the mini-van, we gathered on the terrace at the hotel.  Hummingbirds and some other species were everywhere.  

After that photo op, we headed out on a trail walk.  In hindsight, given all the activity we saw from the terrace, it might well have been more interesting to stay there than go on the walk.  The guide was fine and we saw a variety of things, but it was just a poor quantity/quality ratio of things seen versus the effort involved to see them.  It was also one of those walks that you quickly notice is literally all downhill, meaning the second half will be climb up. 

I was grateful Pam did not learn the hard way it is not a good idea to stomp
on an ant hill to get them angry when you are wearing low-cut shoes.

Ah, life's little contradictions.  We were advised to hold the handrails going over some sections of slippery pathway.  We were also advised that tarantulas like to live inside the bamboo handrails exiting unexpectedly, and potentially angrily, from holes in the side of the handrail.

Mind your step!  He has the right of way.

Regrouping on the terrace post-walk, we mounted our mini-vans and headed back down the mountain, this time with me on the outboard side of the vehicle.

That is one big termite nest.  I think I know what happened to the Orkin Man.

Coming down the mountain, we saw Christophine plants.  Grown on the sides of often steep ravines, the plants are suspended from wires.  The fruit hangs below the plant.  Harvesting the fruit is done by crawling on one's back under the plants, picking as you go.  Once your bag is full, you climb back to the road to unload it.  It is doubtful that knowing this will increase my like of Christophene, but I will certainly have an appreciation for the work it took to get it on its way to my plate.  It may even cause me to have a bit of guilt about not eating it as stares up at me from the table.  At that point, I’ll bury it under the lettuce.

The ship departed Port of Spain at 5:00 PM.  Given that Scarborough, Tobago, is only 100 miles away and we do not dock there until 7:00 AM tomorrow, VEENDAM will not be setting any speed record tonight.